the so-called fiscal cliff, whether it is political negotiating or posturing, every american stands to lose if top politicians can come up with a plan before the end of the year deadline. tahman bradley has latest from washington. >> reporter: fiscal cliff talks have hit a stalemate only 29 days to go, republicans and democrats remain far apart over the weekend there was worry negotiations might fail. >> i think we are going over the cliff, it is clear they've made a political calculation. >> reporter: president obama and his team are demanding that congress allow bush era tax cuts to expire. >> there is no responsible way we can govern this country with those low rates in place for future generations those rates have to go up. >> reporter: republicans have drawn a line in the sand on raising tax rates signaling they are open to raising revenue by reforming the tax code and limiting reductions for the wealthy. >> right now i would say we are nowhere. >> reporter: president obama asking for 1.6 trillion in new tax revenue over 10 years, boehner is offering half that. the president offer